• Betfair wanted to give Hull City facing the doom and gloom of relegation the chance to claim a ‘parachute payment’
• A Drone parachuted a package containing £5,000 in cash, and fitted with a GPS tracker, in the vicinity of Hull this morning
• Clues from the GPS tracker on the package to the drop site were released via Betfair’s social media channels and in a YouTube video with hundreds of Hull fans joining the hunt on the ground in East Yorkshire
Betfair this morning announced they had dropped a ‘Fan Parachute Payment’ of £5,000 in the vicinity of the city of Hull in an attempt to cheer up fans of the soon to be relegated club.
Following the announcement via Betfair’s twitter account this morning and subsequent tweets providing clues on the location of the package, fans rushed out to join the search and one lucky fans day just got a lot better as he stumbled across the package.
Systems and Marketing Analyst and Hull City FC fan, Chris Short, 23, from North Cave couldn’t believe his luck when he found the £5,000, “I saw Betfair announce the ‘Fan Parachute payment’ through twitter this morning, and as I work a few minutes down the road I instantly recognised the rough location that the drone had apparently dropped the £5,000. I explained to my boss and after a bit of negotiation he let me take my lunch break early. When I got there, there were loads of other Hull fans on the same mission as myself. Luckily for me I walked down the path beside the field and spotted the package next to the hedge. I wasn’t expecting this today – my boss will probably want a share of the money now. Either way, hopefully this is a good luck charm for Hull on Sunday when they play United, Up the Tigers!”
Power! Good job i took my lunch break early..@Betfair up the tigers!!!! #FanParachutePayment pic.twitter.com/jQueLhfcgX
— Chris Short (@shortyyy28) May 20, 2015
Following defeat against Spurs last weekend, and other results going against them, barring a miracle on the last day of the season Hull are all but resigned to Premier League relegation alongside Burnley and QPR.
Whilst the relegated clubs themselves receive financial solace by way of the much publicised £60 million ‘Parachute Payment’, it’s a very different story for the fans as they prepare for Championship football.As a result of this fan injustice, online bookmakers Betfair has decided to step in and give Hull fans the chance of receiving their very own ‘parachute payment’ in an attempt to lighten the gloom around the city; with the lucky fan who managed to find the package containing £5,000 in cash being told they can keep it.
The package, fitted with a GPS tracker, and containing the £5,000 fan ‘Parachute Payment’ was dropped by a specially designed drone from the skies above Hull this morning (Wednesday 20th May) and following the drop, Betfair tweeted a video showing the drone parachuting the payment into the Hull countryside, with visual clues as to the GPS location tweeted throughout the morning, prompting Hull fans and treasure hunters across the North to scramble for their maps.
Naomi Totten, Betfair spokesperson, commented: “Relegation hits everyone hard. The club, the fans, the players. Unfortunately for Hull, they’ve been unable to deliver this season despite spending big in the transfer market, and at 1/4 to go down – an 80% likelihood – are almost certain to face Championship football next season. Their fans have been through the mill.”
“While Hull City F.C will receive a £60 million Parachute Payment, their fans receive nothing of the sort. So here at Betfair, we’ve decided to give away a ‘Fan Parachute Payment’ of £5,000 in cash in an attempt to cheer up the people of Hull – we dropped it from a drone this morning and we’ve just heard that Hull City fan, Chris Short, 23, from North Cave has found the package after taking an early lunch break to join the search. Good Decision.Let’s hope Hull have similar luck to Chris when they take on Man United at the weekend”
About Betfair:
Betfair is one of the world’s largest international online sports betting providers and pioneered the betting exchange in 2000. Driven by cutting-edge technology, Betfair’s exchange enables customers to bet at odds sought by themselves or offered by other customers and Betfair now also operates a complementary fixed odds Sportsbook. In addition to sports betting, Betfair offers a portfolio of innovative products including casino, exchange games and poker. Betfair currently employs over 1000 people worldwide and holds betting licences in Gibraltar, the US, Tasmania, Italy, Denmark, Spain and Malta.
